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Tennessee Republican state Sen. Jim Tracy told POLITICO he is 'strongly considering' a challenge to Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.) and has already begun to put together a consulting team. He plans to make a final decision by January.
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POLITICO 44

House Republicans are close to landing a top challenger to Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.); the contender is the latest in a series of solid GOP recruits who have decided to run against senior Democrats in 2010.

Republican state Sen. Jim Tracy told POLITICO he is “strongly considering” a challenge to Gordon and has already begun to put together a consulting team. He plans to make a final decision by January.

Tracy’s candidacy would significantly improve Republican prospects of picking up the politically competitive Middle Tennessee-based seat. In recent months, as the national environment has soured for Democrats, GOP recruiting has picked up against veteran Democrats like Gordon who haven’t faced a serious challenge in years.

Gordon’s Tennessee colleague, Democratic Rep. John Tanner, is facing a well-funded challenge from farmer Stephen Fincher, who looks to put the seat in play for the first time since Tanner was elected in 1988.

Last month, GOP state Sen. Mick Mulvaney announced he’s running against Rep. John Spratt (D-S.C.), chairman of the House Budget Committee, and poses a credible threat to the 14-term congressman. Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), chairman of the Armed Services Committee, is facing two well-funded Republican opponents — even though he hasn’t faced a tough race since 1982.

“We are close to running. I’ve had many folks across the district call and encourage me to run, and I’ll make a final decision in the next several weeks,” Tracy said. “My constituents are not happy with everything being controlled by the government right now and all the taxing and spending. They’re looking for a check and balance to Nancy Pelosi and the Obama administration.”

In a fast-growing district where John McCain won 62 percent of the vote in 2008, Tracy’s political background suggests that he could present challenges for the Democratic incumbent. He defeated a sitting Democrat to win his state Senate seat in 2004, becoming the first Republican to hold the seat. He currently represents about one-third of the congressional district’s population in Rutherford and Bedford counties.

Tracy, however, still faces a contested GOP primary, with a serious Republican opponent in former Rutherford County GOP Chairwoman Lou Ann Zelenik, an outspoken conservative who has been a leader in the local tea party movement. Zelenik was the first Republican to enter the race, has the ability to self-finance a campaign and already has launched a radio ad attacking Gordon.

But national Republican strategists consider Tracy the most electable candidate, given his track record, and they are privately concerned that Zelenik’s red-meat rhetoric could come back to haunt her in a general election.

Retired Army Gen. Dave Evans and businessman Kerry Roberts are also running for the nomination.

The heightened Republican activity in Gordon’s 6th District comes after years of lethargy. Gordon, who chairs the House Science and Technology Committee and is serving his 13th term, hasn’t faced a tough reelection campaign in over a decade — last year, he faced no Republican opposition at all.

Republicans are convinced that Gordon’s vote for a cap-and-trade energy bill and his initial committee vote backing health care reform legislation — even though he changed his mind and voted against the bill on the House floor last month — will come back to haunt him.

They also note that the district is seeing an influx of new voters, many of them young families who don’t have the same relationship with Gordon that his long-standing constituents have.

The Republican polling firm Public Opinion Strategies conducted a survey in the district last month showing Gordon facing a very challenging reelection. The poll found that 49 percent “thought it was time to give a new person a chance,” with only 37 percent saying that Gordon performed his job well enough to deserve reelection.

But Democrats argue that Gordon’s clout in Congress and attention to constituent service will insulate him from a challenge. He ended September with more than $1.28 million in his campaign account, giving him plenty of resources to defend his record.

“He’s always been a hard-working, grass-roots kind of guy. He understands that all politics are local, and maintaining that local presence and strong constituent service operation is important to voters,” said Chip Forrester, the Tennessee Democratic Party chairman.

Readers' Comments (7)

Tennessee is the same state that would not elect that light-skinned American of African-Slave Descent, Harold Ford, right?

That means that the voters in Tennessee do not judge well or vote against their own interests. (Ford was the more conservative, had more state interest at heart, and is a high proponent of Constituent Control.)

(Kinda Like the way The Commonwealth of Virginia elected another Republican when they know that means the state returns to a non-thinking leadership and will begin to lose jobs that have been protected by 2 Democratic Govenors, as well as end The Cleaning of the Chesapeake Bay, end the New Product Jobs Plan for Wind-Turbines Off The Atlantic, eliminate music in the schools, head-start funding, and cut the state trooper budget.... oh well, I guess Tennessee and Virginia can be friends again now.....)

The State of TN did not vote Mr. Ford in as Senator because he was exactly like a former Senator. A Washington DC living hack. He did not REALLY live in TN and was part of a POLITICAL family, which we do not need

emcroysw - Did You See Any Of The Political Ads Against Him? Did You attend Any Of The Rally-Events? It just so happens That Ford is a Native of Tenn. and His Politics varied quite a bit from that of his family... more importantly is the truth that He would have made a better Senator than what we got.... He is thoughtful, intelligent, and only works for "The Common Good" = no special interest groups... you and many voters made a horrible mistake for your futures....

I hate to see Ike Skelton of Missouri in trouble. It isn't his conservative politics that troubles people, it is his party affiliation and the demands Nancy makes on everyone to tow the Democrat party line that will cost Ike his seat. But, Ike is a big boy and does what he does with his eyes open. However, I still hate to think of him getting canned over the likes of Nancy Pelosi. Maybe it is time for Ike to realize the Democrat party is not the same as it was when he was elected. Maybe it is time to switch party allegiance or go independent.

Well now that Gordon's announced his retirement, hopefully he'll get replaced by a good, old-fashioned, libertarian-conservative — y'know, a real American — not some so-called "progressive" who thinks that this country is founded on forced "social equality" rather than equal liberty and justice under law. For my part, that's what makes Lou Ann most likely to take the district next year; she's a hard-working American businesswoman, not a politician with connections to all kinds of special interests.

As for Tracy, although this article calls him the "most electable," his support for increased socialization of K-12 and his love of socialized healthcare make his election to the US House virtually impossible, especially with the healthcare takeover being attempted by the Comm— uh, Democratic Party on Capitol Hill. How could he possibly campaign on a slogan of "when I get there, I'm throwing in with them?"